AMPs and severity of bronchiolitis
The correlation of qualitive and quantitive factors with AMPs levels in nasal secretions are shown in Table 2. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between LL-37 levels and the duration of hospitalization (rho =-0.340, p =0.001), the maximum modified Wang score (rho =-0.160, p =0.048) and the need for IV fluid administration (p=0.001) and medication use (p=0.001). No correlation was found between LL-37 concentration and need for O2 supplementation, NG feeding or ICU admission.
There was no association between LL-37 concentration and sex, ethnicity, age, gestational age, birth weight, type of delivery or any modifiable factor such as breastfeeding or smoke exposure in any period of life (in utero or after birth). Furthermore, no correlation was found between LL-37 nasal secretions and 25(OH)D serum levels.
Β-defensin-2 peptide was not found to be significantly correlated to any factor.
After adjusting for gender, ethnicity, age, type of delivery, smoke exposure and 25(OH)D serum levels, LL-37 concentration remained significantly associated with the length of hospitalization (β=-0.002 95% CI [(-0.003- -0.0001], p=0.010) and medication use (OR=0,99 95% CI [(0.98 -1.00], p=0.014), but not with maximum modified Wang score or IV fluid administration (p=0.431 and p=0.145 respectively).
The inverse correlation between LL-37 levels and the length of hospital stay is shown in Figure1.